NUTLEY, NJ — The Lenape Trail District of the Northern New Jersey Council – BSA held its annual Klondike Derby on a sunny but cool day at South Mountain Reservation in West Orange. A brief snowstorm the day before added to snow already on the ground which helped the Klondike sled move easily. The Klondike Derby is based on the 1898 Alaskan Gold Rush and has been going on since 1949 when now defunct Tamarack Council BSA held the first at Garret Mountain in the then West Paterson area.
Troop 147 Nutley entered two sleds after training in Scout skills for the past three months. The Scouts ran the full-day event of 10 made-up “towns” on the course and performed skills that included fire-building, started with sparky and burnt cloth; land measurement; lashings; orienteering; Kim’s Game; knot tying; Scout and nature lore; and first aid. A fun event, tomahawk toss, was added to this year’s event.
A total of 34 teams from all over Essex County competed. The Troop 147 Beav-Haw team of older Scouts entered the Prospector division, and received a trophy for best performance at the first-aid town.
The Troop 147 Golden Eagles team entered the Panner division of younger Scouts and earned a perfect score in fire-building and finished the course an hour before their older Prospector companions.
Scoutmaster Al Welenofsky praised the Scouts for their great showing at the Klondike Derby events and announced that the following troop meeting will be “Game and Pizza Night” for their efforts. Welenofsky also thanked troop
leaders for their assistance in getting the boys and sleds to the derby.
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